Some time later, after Shinji heard about certain things, he realized he had still underestimated the Bounty Station's boldness.
But those were things that happened later, so there was no need to mention them for now.
At this point, Shinji and his group had arrived in the Land of Fangs. Once they crossed it, they would reach the Land of Claws.
Meanwhile, the location marked on one [Cursed Treasure Map] was nearby.
So rather than hurry away, Shinji planned to dig up the treasure before leaving.
Perhaps because of the repeated defeats on the front lines, Shinji and his group underwent a very strict inspection when they entered the Land of Fangs.
Had Sasuke not hypnotized the guards with his Sharingan in time, the hot-tempered Hidan might already have been ready to start slaughtering people.
Once they entered, an atmosphere of grim tension and sorrow permeated the country.
Men were rarely seen. Most of those farming and working everywhere were women, which was strange.
Shinji only learned why when he asked out of curiosity while buying sweetwater.
It turned out that years of war had killed off nearly all the country's young and able-bodied men, and the remaining men had all been forcibly conscripted into the army.
That left only women, the elderly, and children.
To survive, the women naturally had to step up.
The woman seemed quite talkative, but the sorrow on her face made it clear that she, too, had a story.
Shinji did not probe further. After all, he was only passing through and could do nothing about this sort of thing.
Would killing the person in power and replacing him really improve the situation?
Impossible!
As long as the true conflict between the Fang and Claw Countries remained unresolved, the war would never end unless one